ISS Amateur Radio Status: November 17, 2005
SuitSat Status
By Miles Mann WF1F,
MAREX-MG News www.marexmg.org
Manned Amateur Radio Experiment
SuitSat Activation in 3 weeks?
Hi everyone:
SuitSat Activation in 3 weeks?
The SuitSat project is onboard the International space
station and could be activated in as little as 3
weeks. The current tentative activation date is
during the ISS crew space walk on Wednesday December
7, 2005. SuitSat will be a hand launched satellite.
During the November monthly ARISS telecom the SuitSat
launch date was discussed and it still looks like
SuitSat will be activated during the next Space walk
(EVA) in December.
For more specific details on the SuitSat project,
please review the AMSAT web link PDF file for some
good details and great pictures of the SuitSat
project.
http://www.rac.ca/ariss/Suitsat%20Rev%20D.pdf
The Reason it is important for people to get ready to
Monitor the SuitSat project is because this is a short
duration experiment. This is the first version of
this type of project, and it will be running on
Batteries only. The Battery duration of this project
looks like it will be shorter than originally planed.
The current expected life of the SuitSat project is
approximately 1 week. So if you snooze you will
loose.
The down link on 145.990 FM will consist of:
Voice Telemetry, giving Mission Time, Suit Temperature
and Battery Voltage
Voice Greeting messages in multiple languages
One SSTV image
The whole process will repeat every 9 minutes until
the batteries discharge.
On Wednesday December 7, ISS will be in range of the
East coast of the USA, starting around 2:33 AM EST
(7:33 UTC). (I do not have the starting time of the
Spacewalk at this time). Then every 90 minutes, ISS
will pass of the USA, going more west with each orbit.
By 7:19 AM EST (12:33 UTC) ISS will be passing over
the Central USA and will be in range of most of the
USA.
East Coast Starting Passes:
2:33 AM EST 5:33 UTC
4:07 AM EST 9:07 UTC
5:44 AM EST 10:44 UTC
7:19 AM EST 12:19 UTC
8:56 AM EST 13:56 UtC
10:30 AM EST 15:30 UTC
I will keep posting updated links for the SuitSat
project as they become available.
SSTV details:
By now you should have your station all configured to
Record the Voice down links from ISS and you should be
able to decode SSTV images.
The SuitSat project will transmit Telemetry,
Pre-Recorded Voice messages and one SSTV image. The
whole process will repeat approximately every 9
minutes. (Robot 36 format).
All transmissions will be in FM mode and will be on
the 2-meter amateur radio satellite band. The current
frequency for SuitSat is 145.990 FM Downlink only
(There is no uplink for this satellite). This means
that the Doppler frequency drift will not be much of a
problem and you will be able to use your existing
2-meter station or a police scanner to hear and decode
the signals SuitSat.
ARISS is also planning on using the Kenwood D700
Transceiver on ISS to Rebroadcast the SuitSat signal
on 437.800 MHz FM. This will allow you to hear
SuitSat while ISS is in range of you station.
If you have already have been successful in working
the Packet station or talked to the ISS crew on
2-meter voice, than you already have most of what you
need. What’s left is to connect your computer to the
speaker of your radio and some SSTV decoding software,
such as ChromaPix http://www.barberdsp.com/ or similar
software.
So have fun, find your best setup and start practicing
how to decode SSTV on 2-meters.
Slow Scan TV Decoding Software Here are just two of
the many Share-Ware SSTV applications on the market.
There may be many more.
W95SSTV by Silicon Pixels
http://www.barberdsp.com/w95sstv/w95dload.htm
MMSSTV
http://mmhamsoft.ham-radio.ch/
There are also many High quality pay software
applications that offer many more features, such as
multiple windows that allow you to simultaneously
receive an image while preparing your next image that
you want to transmit.
CPIX
http://www.barberdsp.com/
What is Slow Scan TV?
On this web page you will find many links to help you
learn more about Slow Scan TV
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/sstvlinkpage.html
Tips on how to use ISS, SSTV, Packet and Voice
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/howtouseiss.html
Location of Hardware on ISS
This link will show you images of some of the amateur
radio hardware already installed on ISS
http://www.marexmg.org/fileshtml/radiohardware.html
Marexmg Web page
http://www.marexmg.org
Note to SAREX and AMSAT-BB.
Since the SuitSat project encompasses both a Free
floating unmanned satellite and is being hand launched
from a Manned satellite, there will be some double
postings regarding the SuitSat project on both the
SAREX and AMSAT-BB mailing lists.
If you are not currently on the SAREX list, you may
want to check the AMSAT link to sign up for both so
you do not miss the additional projects coming this
year, and early 2006.
73 Miles WF1F MAREX-MG
Until we meet again
DOSVIDANIYA Miles WF1F
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Sent via amsat-bb@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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